The Lost Blog Post

The news back home is all about today’s full moon, blood moon, super moon, lunar eclipse. In Sri Lanka it’s more than an astronomical curiousity. In this Buddhist culture, every full moon day is a religious holiday. Most shops and businesses are closed, and the temples, shrines, and religious centers are busy.

For us, it’s a travel day, from Harbarana to Kandy. While a day sitting on the bus is more or less welcome after so much climbing and walking yesterday, we did not want to be completely sedentary. So after breakfast we took a walk around the hotel complex.

The place is spread out over a number of acres along a river, and the same company has a separate hotel featuring “luxury suites” adjacent to the cabins making up our hotel, so the paths go on for some distance. Along the river bank there are several platforms or tree houses where one can watch birds. We walked so far we got a bit turned around among the “suites” that we nearly didn’t get back in time to get our luggage out to be placed on the bus. But it was a good walk.

Along the way we made several brief stops to see things encountered by the road. One stop was a bodi tree shrine that was busy with pilgrims bringing water offerings for the full moon day. There we were entertained by some cute children, both human and monkey.

 

We also took photos, from ground level, of a Buddha statue high up on a mountain. A monk was preaching to crowds who were either preparing to climb up, or who had just returned (we couldn’t quite tell which). Again, this was associated with the full moon day.

At a roadside stand, our tour leader treated us to “king coconuts.” These are copper-colored and a bit larger than the brown coconuts one typically sees. The milk clearer and quite refreshing, but the meat has a texture more like jello.

Our lunch stop was at a spice emporium. A guided tour through a very tourist-oriented little garden ended with a pitch about how various spices, or combinations of spices, will prevent or cure all sorts of medical conditions — everything from dry skin to cancer. And a team showed up, literally out of the bushes, to massage spice oils into whatever body parts folks had bothering them. We declined, but most of our group got one sort of rub-down or another. Of course, hands were out for tips after the massages, and the exit was through the shop. The place did serve a good lunch, though.

Arriving in Kandy, our hotel was perched on a hillside overlooking the city. Sof after checking in we took a walk down to the lake. We were accosted multiple times by tuk-tuk taxi drivers, who apparently thought that any tourist on foot must be looking for a ride. But after the long bus ride, the walk felt good. We cut the walk short and returned, because our guide had arranged an optional ticket to a dance performance for late afternoon.

View from our hotel balcony at Kandy

On the way up hill, we stopped at a convenience store to get some snacks to eat in place of dinner, as we were feeling too full for an evening meal. Cost was all of 100 Rupees (about 65 cents US). When we reached the hall for the dance performance, we discovered that we had been standing right in front of it when we turned around to walk back up hill! Unfortunately, there was a mix-up with the reservations, so we will be coming back for the dance performance tomorrow.

Sigiriya

Rain — hard rain — began our day. Even with umbrellas, we weren’t totally dry by the time we walked from our cabin to breakfast. Our tour leader assured us that it could stop, or that it might not be raining at all at our morning destination, about 15 miles away. We were skeptical. But sure enough, about the time the bus arrived at the “car park,” the rain ceased. Everything was still pretty muddy, but the sun even peeked through the clouds occasionally.

The place we had arrived is Sigiri (of Sigiriya, depending on which sign is being read), a World Heritage site. It is a large granite rock outcrop that rises sharply more than 100 meters (roughly 350 feet) straight out of the surrounding plain. There is evidence that it has been an object of fascination for humans since prehistoric times.

But the most important use was by King Kasyapa I, who ruled in this area from 477-495 CE. Kasyapa was not the crown prince, but managed to usurp the throne by a palace intrigue which led to the premature death of his father, and to a number of his brothers and half-brothers fleeing to India. Under the circumstances, one speculates that Kasyapa might have had trouble sleeping soundly at night. After all, it’s not paranoia if people really ARE out to get you!

Kasyapa turned the Sigiri rock into a fortress/palace, somewhat reminiscent of King Herod’s Masada in Israel (though not quite as large). The grand palace, with temples, bathing pools, and all the amenities, was located on the top. He also built a huge lion head and paws on one end of the rock to make the entire complex look, from a distance, like a giant cat laying, sphinx-like, on the Sri Lankan plain.

He surrounded the rock with a complete city for members of his court (including almost a thousand concubines) laid out in perfect symmetry, with pools and gardens that could make the entire complex self-sufficient in case of seige. The entire complex was surrounded by a large mote. The layout of the gardens and pools is very similar to the pattern used in many Roman settlements, and there is speculation that the designers had some sort of contact with or knowledge of the Roman Empire.

Another feature of the rock is that Kasyapa had the walkway up to the top decorated with paintings of beautiful “angels” of the Hindu tradition, some of which have been remarkably well-preserved. They are depicted as floating on clouds and dropping flowers on the visitors approaching below them.

Most are bare-breasted and “generously endowed.” Fifth-century porn stars? Later visitors inscribed graffiti on a smooth wall opposite the paintings, commenting on their attributes.
It’s a trip of some 900 steps up to the top of the rock, and the narrow stairways are extremely crowded with thousands of tourists from everywhere in the world, many pushing and shoving. Five of us made it to the top, where the view would have been spectacular had it not been for the fog and drizzle. It was a hot, sweaty trip.

Kasyapa’s efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. After ruling for 18 years (probably about the time it took to complete Sigiriya), his half-brother and legitimate heir to the thrown returned from India with an army and overthrew him. The new king rejected his brother’s pleasure-loving lifestyle, and turned Sigiriya over to Buddhist monks to use as a monastery. The monastery continued in operation until sometime in the 12th or 13th centuries CE, when, for reasons unknown, the site was abandoned. Locals revealed it to British archaeologists in the 1890s.

We returned to the hotel for a quick shower and change of clothes, then reboarded the bus to drive to a rural area for a traditional “home-cooked” rice and curry lunch. The “home” turned out to be a much bigger operation than we had envisioned, and there were several tour buses already there. The kitchen was definitely rustic, and cooking was being done over open wood fires.

It was quite a spread of dishes, but the food was prepared with tourists in mind, thus it was so devoid of spices as to be nearly tasteless. Nevertheless, several in our group who do not appreciate spices considered it the best meal they had had here thus far.

After lunch we drove to another World Heritage site called Polonnaruva. This is a large temple complex dating from around the 10th and 11th centuries, including both Buddhist and Hindu temples, as well as a few dozen stupas.

One structure unique to Sri Lanka is a stupa that had originally been roofed over by a circular pavilion. The pavilion featured Buddha statues facing each of the four cardinal directions. Another featured four huge Buddha statues in various poses, all carved from a single, huge block of granite.

After 900 steps in the morning, and walking over quite a distance through the temple complex, we were all dragging. A couple of people even elected to skip dinner. We all went to our beds exhausted and slept very soundly.

A1 Highway

We were up early to prepare for bags out by 7 and departure by 7:30 a.m. Since three meals are included today, we tried to pace ourselves at breakfast.

The A1 highway (notice the British-style highway designations) is a 2-lane road in quite good condition, but it is so crowded with trucks, three-wheeled “tuk-tuks”, pedestrians, motor scooters, and other buses (oh, yes, and a few cars) that traffic moves only as fast as the slowest tuk-tuk. There were occasional bursts of speed after (finally) passing something, but overall, we averaged less than 30 mph.

Sudeshna lectured us on Sri Lankan history, in great detail, for a full two hours before we stopped. His knowledge is encyclopedic, but despite his depth, he needs to find a more concise and better organized way to present it. Today he was sketched the roots of the Tamill Tiger rebellion, beginning prior to the arrival of the Portugese in the early 1500s. Whew! Glad there wasn’t a quiz to follow.

We finally made a coffee break at a roadside restaurant where Su bought some typical Sri Lankan “sweets” for us to try. Most of them weren’t very sweet at all. Few cultures share the American taste for refined sugar. Back on the road, we were spared the lecture this time. We turned off the A1 onto the A6, which runs more nearly north, rather than northeast.

Another stop along the way was a weaving shop where some very brightly colored threads were being spun, dyed and turned into cloth.

Lunch came at a typical Sri Lanka fast food spot along the road. Fast food here is rice and curry. We had the dall curry, which is the least spicy. It was accompanied by lots of rice, some plantains, red cabbage, greens, and a small piece of chicken. Quite good, and the large plate sells for about $1.60 American. Dessert was extra, but the ice cream was OK. Mary’s cake, however, was typically British.

We finally arrived at our destination around 2 p.m. It’s a fairly large resort in a rural area in north central Sri Lanka, near two national parks. After getting our welcome juice and settling in, most of us signed on for an optional trip to one of the national parks for a wild game “safari.

Each jeep held 4 people, and we were in with the only other married couple in the group. Only one of the singles remained behind. Suspension on the jeeps is a bit of a rough ride, and they seem to be geared pretty low — maximum speed on the highway was only about 65 kilometers per hour (kph, about 40 mph). When we turned off the highway, we were soon on a very rough, single track dirt lane that, in the U.S., would have been closed as a road under construction. It was rough going, and to make things worse, it had begun to rain.

On the way in, we saw some monkeys very near the road, as well as various birds, including a golden eagle. Our main goal was the lake area, where Asian elephants congregate in the afternoons this time of year. We were not disappointed.

The herd was about 70-80 of the large beasts. The rain held off so we could open the top cover of the truck, and we — along with about one jeep per elephant — were able to crowd in quite close to them. It was quite a sight.

The rain resumed just as we started to leave the park. It was coming down pretty hard, and we pulled all the top and side covers on the jeep. Still, a couple of big male peacocks managed to show themselves to us as we passed the trees on which they were perched.

The rain got to be so intense, we began to fear that the dirt roads in the national park would turn to deep mud and mire us in. Four-wheel drive is a wonderful thing. The going was slow, and the rutted roads gave us quite a rough ride, but we got out without incident. We were back to the resort before 7 p.m. for a large dinner, then called it a day

Buddhists in Training

Up well before our alarms once again, we enjoyed a gigantic hotel breakfast buffet designed to appeal to American, European, Chinese, and Sri Lankan guests. This is a big hotel, and easily more than half of the guests here are Chinese tourists and business people. It was difficult to find a seat in the dining room, but we ate well.

We began the day with a drive around the city, stopping briefly at the city hall — a building designed to copy the White House and Capital of Washington, DC — and the Independence Monument, which will be the focal point for a big celebration soon, on February 4, Sri Lankan independence day. We had a lengthy explanation of the various symbolic features of the monument, as well as an historical sketch of some of the events in late British colonial history leading up to an independent Sri Lanka.

Other sites included the largest school in the country — a somewhat upper-crust private “college” for grades 4-12 attended by the children of many government officials and top business people. It also happens to be the alma mater of our tour leader, because his mother worked at the national bank, or as he explained it, the “federal reserve” of Sri Lanka. We also saw a horse-racing track and grand stand built by the British, now renovated into a shopping mall and rugby stadium.

National Theater

The home of the country’s president was on the list, as were the newly built national theater and art center, a Chinese-built business and convention center, and a number of embassies and other spots.

Independence Monument

We then drove to the outskirts of the city where we visited a training center for Buddhist monks. The building is relatively new and rather impressive, but the head monk currently has only 4 students — all young boys aged 9-14 (who could have passed for several years younger). The boys greeted us with refreshing cold, wet wash clothes and an herbal drink. They were excited to show us examples of the few items that a monk is allowed to own — a rice bowl, bowl stand, razor for shaving, winter and summer robes, a sleeping mat, and a book of Buddha's teachings.

We then removed our shoes and went inside to meet the abbot. He is a rather impressive person, mid-40s, who has earned degrees at universities in both Britain and Canada. His English is excellent (English is one of three official languages of Sri Lanka, and the primary language of government, but many ordinary people speak only a little). He speaks softly, but with an air of authority.

The monk wanted to hear about each of us, and went around the room asking our names, where we live, our families, etc. Interestingly, our tour leader had not asked us to introduce ourselves to one another as a group, so this was also our opportunity to learn new things about our fellow travelers. He then gave a bit of background about Buddhism. He finished somewhat abruptly when some very loud drumming began just outside — the community was being called to the mid-day ceremony, and we would all be participating.

Our first task was to each prepare a lotus blossom by folding back the petals and removing the stem in a particular way we were shown. The finished, opened blossom was then set afloat in a small bowl of water on a tray, and we solemnly marched upstairs, single file, to the reliquary where we presented our “offerings,” in turn, to the monks. We then returned downstairs and lit small votive candles, and carried these on trays once again, but this time to the main meditation hall. Again we lined up and presented our candles, but before doing so we each lit a stick of incense and placed it in a bowl of sand in front of the Buddha. I apparently didn’t have mine lit long enough before shaking out the flame, because it immediately went out and did not smoke. Sorry, Buddha!

We took our seats on cushions in the meditation hall, and received instruction from the head monk regarding how to sit and how to hold our hands in the ceremony. Then he and the young boys began the chant. It wasn’t exactly a Lutheran Kyrie, but there were some similarities to Gregorian in how it all functioned.

The next task was feeding the monks. We had done something similar on our Ancient Kingdoms trip to southeast Asia a few years ago, But instead of just a ball of sticky rice for breakfast, this was the main meal of the day as prepared by men from the surrounding neighborhood. The monks filed by us silently, each with rice bowl in hand, and we each had a dish or two we were responsible to dish up. Each monk would indicate with a hand signal when he had received enough, and then he moved on. We learned that young boys can be picky eaters, even if they are monks.

After the monks finished eating, we returned to the abbot’s room for a meditation lesson (very relaxing, but I did not achieve enlightenment), and further teaching about Buddhism. Finally, it was our turn to eat. The men had prepared a soup and a couple additional dishes for us, in addition to the remainder of what we had served the monks. It was every bit as good as the previous evening’s buffet.

The monks seemed to feel it was important for us to have a group photo with them, and we obliged, then put our shoes back on and returned to the bus. Nearby, we visited a much older and very elaborate Buddhist temple and stupa. Here, too, shoes were forbidden, and the grounds were mostly loose sand.

The place was quite busy with locals visiting to pray, and also with a crew of men doing the annual temple cleaning prior to a major festival coming up next week. We had never seen a
Buddha statue get dusted before. A very long-handled mop is required, apparently.

Returning to the hotel for a bit of rest time, the first order of business was getting into the bathtub for a foot washing!

At 5 p.m. we drove down to the old city of Colombo, near the seaport docks. Many of the old colonial buildings are in the process of renovation. For quite a few years, during the Tamill Tiger rebellion, the area was unsafe. Buildings were left vacant and decaying. Now the Sri Lankans are reclaiming this heritage. The old Dutch Hospital, built in the late 1600s, is now a shopping mall. Several British buildings are being turned into hotels, restaurants, or shops.

Old Dutch Hospital

A couple folks stayed in the old city to eat at one of the tony new restaurants. We felt we’d already had two big meals, and opted to return to the hotel for a small snack and to get ready to check out and hit the road the next day. Our surprise was that, by some error, the hotel computer system had “checked us out,” and all members of our group were soon gathered at the front desk in the lobby, complaining that their room key cards wouldn’t work. We finally got into the room to settle in for the night.

Colombo

We were awake before our 4 a.m. alarm — jet lag is a bitch. At least we had a hair dryer to use! But we discovered that about half the electrical outlets in the room had no juice. Hyatt seems to have a quality control problem in this part of the world.

In the lobby we met three single women who are also on our pre-trip. They had already received their boarding passes, we had to wait in a long, slow line for ours. After receiving them, we discovered a large number of check-in desks with very short lines farther into the building. Why no one announced this to the throngs waiting in the front lobby is a mystery. But we got through passport control and security and made our flight in good time.

The plane to Colombo was the same type as for the trip from Chicago, a 777. But this one was older and considerably more cramped. The single women had all upgraded to Business Class. I’m beginning to understand the appeal of that.

Our Sri Lanka segment tour leader, Sudeshna (or just Sue, for short, even though he’s a guy) met us at the airport. The bus ride into the city wasn’t a great distance, and began on a modern expressway, but took nearly an hour due to rough and crowded streets once we got into the city. The most impressive feature so far is the heat — mid-80s and humid. We aren’t in Minnesota anymore!

After settling in at the hotel and exploring the area around the huge pool and adjacent lake, we met again with Sudeshna and the group for an orientation to Sri Lanka — or rather, a continuation of that begun on the bus ride. It’s a lot of information, and it seems that the name of every person, place or thing in this language is a minimum of five syllables and 20 letters, so it’s difficult to grasp.

Our eyes glazed from the history and geography of the country, we got aboard the bus and drove to a restaurant serving a large buffet of traditional foods. It was wonderful! Many things are similar to Indian cuisine, but there is plenty that is unique. We tried nearly everything.
No trouble getting to sleep, but awake very early. Jet lag strikes again.

Soul of India

We are headed back to India once again on another Overseas Adventure Travel excursion. This time we’ll see the southern part of the country, rather than the north, beginning with a brief stopover in Dubai, followed by a pre-trip to Sri Lanka.

After a good flight and some sleep on Emirates Air, we arrived in Dubai around 8 p.m. on Thursday evening. After a bit of trouble with the ATM, we were armed with plenty of Dirhams for the brief taxi ride to our hotel for the night.

The J5 Apartments were fine, and instead of buying their expensive breakfast, we paid 5.50 Dirhams for a box of three Danish roles at a supermarket down the street. We needn’t have bothered, because when we walked around the corner to Hyatt Place, the OAT hotel, we were told that since we would be leaving before breakfast for an early flight the next day, we could have our breakfast now. We made it our brunch for the day.

We had booked online a 7 hour city tour to begin at 1 p.m., but when they didn’t come to pick us up we called the number in our confirmation. The fellow who answered told us that, of course, there couldn’t be a tour today because it’s Friday. I asked why, then, his company had confirmed the reservation and accepted our payment. He responded that we could take tomorrow’s tour. I let him know we were flying out early the next morning, and that the Saturday tour would be impossible for us. He sounded as if that was the most absurd thing he had ever heard, but agreed to process a refund. We did receive an email that our refund was “in progress” so we hope for the best.

The hotel booked us on a 4 hour tour to begin mid-afternoon. It was barely adequate. The guide was from India, and he contributed little to our knowledge of the local culture. We were rushed through the Dubai Museum in 30 minutes (though there was probably only about 45 minutes worth of museum there to see). It was primarily propaganda for the royal family. We then drove by a number of locations where the driver would slow down to allow photos to be taken through the bus windows.

They did manage to carve out time to visit a rug factory so that we could get the sales pitch. Other than that, a brief visit to Jameira beach was the only other real stop. We were dropped back at our hotel about 8:30.

The evening adventure involved a hair dryer. There wasn’t one in the room where it was supposed to be, so after searching all closets and drawers we called Housekeeping. They would send one right up. After 40 minutes we still had not had a knock on the door, and with a 4 a.m. wake-up to catch an early flight, we wanted to get to bed. We called again and were told it would be there in 3 minutes. We waited 10, then called again. Housekeeping apologized. Finally, the guy woke us more than an hour after the original call, and getting back to sleep wasn’t easy.